production in paying quantities

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Co-author David Leonard

If perpetuation of a mineral lease beyond the primary term is contingent upon continuous operations, do traditional notions of “production in paying quantities” always matter? Spoiler: No.

In Thistle Creek Ranch, LLC v. Ironroc Energy Partners, LLC, an appellate court affirmed partial summary judgment in favor of lessee Ironroc Energy Partners under these odd clauses in the Kettler lease.

The habendum clause:

Unless sooner terminated …  this lease shall remain in force for a term of three (3) years from the date hereof, hereinafter called “primary term,” and as long thereafter as operations, hereinafter defined, are conducted upon said land with no cessation for more than ninety (90) consecutive days.

The lease defined “operations” as:

“ … any of the following: drilling, testing, completing, reworking, recompleting, deepening, plugging back or repairing of a well in search for or in any endeavor to obtain production of oil [or] gas, …  production of oil [or] gas, … whether or not in paying quantities.

The oddity, of course, is that the lease could be perpetuated by operations, whether or not there was production in paying quantities.
Continue Reading Lease Perpetuated Beyond Primary Term Without Production in Paying Quantities

Lollygag: To fool around and waste time; dawdle.  As in, “I lollygagged for 15 years after filing my suit and obtained a less-than-optimal result.”

Gramwich Oil and Gas Corporation et al v. Meng addressed claims for lease termination, repudiation, laches, cessation of production, and failure to produce in paying quantities. The facts are dense and the savings clause at issue is sui generis, so I won’t go into lots of detail. The takeaway: If you have a claim, prosecute it.

The facts
Continue Reading Lessor Prevails in Texas Lease Termination Dispute

Co-author Rusty Tucker

With the plunge in commodity prices many formerly profitable wells are now in the red, and we don’t know for how long. This is causing non-operators to question the bona fides of the operations … and of the operator, and to search for a way out of their obligations.

The challenge: The operator is operating unprofitable wells where monthly costs exceed or barely equal revenues, making money on fixed COPAS overhead charges, and non-operators are going into the economic hole.  What can the non–operator do to stop the financial bleeding?
Continue Reading My Operator is Making Money on the Well and I’m Not. What Can I Do? Part 1.

There are specific requirements for proving that an oil and gas lease has survived past its primary term. Fail to hit them all when the lease is challenged at the courthouse, and disappointment will be order of the day.

The heart of the dispute in J&L Oil Company v. KM Oil Company was whether plaintiff J&L satisfied the requirements of a Pugh clause in a 1951 lease. J&L sued KM for impinging upon J&L’s lease on 55 acres in Caddo Parish, Louisiana. Summary judgment in favor of KM, the alleged impinger, was affirmed.
Continue Reading Lack of Proof Dooms Pugh Clause Defense